Joshua E. Richardson

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www.brightsourceenergy.com
Joshua E. Richardson
2
Definition

• Industrial High Temperature Solar Thermal Power
  Plants are systems for industrial scale use only
  that utilize solar heat energy to power a turbine
  in order to produce electricity.

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Main Goals

• To successfully provide a fuel that is
• Clean
• Efficient
• Cost-effective
• Energy used specifically for industry-scale uses.

4
Overall Potential

• By using only 1 of the earths deserts, more
  clean solar electric power could be produced than
  is currently produced worldwide with fossil
  fuels.
• It is theoretically possible that over 90 percent
  of the nations electricity and most of the
  transportation sectors energy needs, could be
  supplied by solar thermal technology within the
  next 50 years.
• Estimated that by 2010, systems will exceed
  5,000 MWenough to serve needs of 7 million
  people and save the equivalent of 46 million
  barrels of oil each year.

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How does it work?

• Five types with different models.
• All operate somewhat alike
• Use lenses and reflectors to concentrate solar
  power.
• Heat drives thermal power plant.

http//www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/en/solar
-thermal-power-plants/
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What happens at night?

• Power is stored during the daytime in molten salt
  at approximately 1050F
• Salt sometimes used to heat graphite which would
  be used as a heat storage medium? night-time
  operations are possible!
• Storage of heat from solar power plants can allow
  solar power plants to operate around the clock
• unique because they can generate power when it is
  neededday or nightrain or shine

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Designs

• Solar Power Towers
• Parabolic trough
• Solar Dish/Engine Systems
• CSP plants
• Fresnel Reflectors

http//www.solarpaces.org/
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Comparison of Major Solar Thermal Technologies
(tower, dish, trough)
Source Status Report on Solar Thermal Power
Plants. Pilkington Solar International GmbH
Cologne, Germany,1996. http//www.solardev.com/SE
IA-makingelec.php
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Power Towers

• The first large-scale solar energy project in the
  U.S.
• 1982
• DOE and individual corporations
• Solar plant with a field of computerized mirrors
  called heliostats that follow the sun.
• Heliostats reflect rays towards a central tower
  where heat is used to produce steam.
• Steam turns a turbine like in more traditional
  plants.

www.gadgetroad.com/spain-uses-worlds-first-solar-t
hermal-power-plant-367/
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Power Towers, contd

• Power Tower 1- original trial.
• Success!
• Power Tower 2- 10MW second generation station
• 1926 heliostats
• 300 ft. tower
• Power for 10,000 homes
• Discussion about a 30 to 100 MW tower in Nevada.

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Parabolic Trough

• Made of long rows of concentrating mirrors
• Only curved in one direction
• Track the sun from East to West with surface that
  focuses suns energy
• Heat transfer fluid runs through pipe that is at
  the focus of the troughs
• Heat is transferred to working fluid (usually
  water) and used to power or drive turbine

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Parabolic Trough
An Acciona solar thermal power plant, located
south of Las Vegas.
http//www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/business/06solar
.html?_r1emex1205038800en2d73a651a7216de1e
i50870Aorefslogin
http//www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/en/solar
-thermal-power-plants/
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Parabolic Dish/Engine Systems

• Still under development
• Consists of parabolic shaped concentrators that
  track sun in two-axis
• Cycle heat engine mounted on receiver generates
  electricity, or
• sunlight heats fluid that is transmitted to a
  central engine

http//www.schott.com/newsfiles/20061109160336_SCH
OTT_Memorandum_E.pdf
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Political/Economic Obstacles

• Currently not economical
• high cost of building facilities needed
• currently can only lengthen the amount of time
  you have energy by a few hours
• would require more high voltage DC lines to carry
  the electricity from the southwestern U.S. to the
  rest of the country
• Funding will be needed to bring solar thermal
  electric into large scale development

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Political/Economic Opportunities

• Can create 2 and ½ times as many skilled high
  paying jobs as conventional power plants that use
  fossil fuels
• Moderate net energy
• Moderate environmental impact
• Costs reduced with natural gas turbine backup

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Technological Obstacles

• Needs back up or storage system
• Storage the solar thermal plans would need just
  16 hours of storage to continuously generate
  electricity
• Low efficiency
• increasing efficiency by 20-30 could
  significantly reduce the cost of electricity

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Technological Breakthroughs

• Future solar collectors will be mass-produced
  using
• lower cost flat mirrors, rather than curved
  troughs
• and sit low to the ground reducing wind loads
• Fast construction (1-2 years)

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Land Use Issues

• Takes lots of area requiring high land use
• Works best in desert or other areas with lots of
  sun

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Negative Environmental Impacts

• May disturb desert areas
• Could potentially endanger wildlife
• Take up at least nine square miles of space

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Positive Environmental Impacts

• No CO2 emissions
• reduces air pollution
• Less use of fossil fuel

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Costs of Use

• 15 20 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh)
• Comparison to wind8 cents per kwh
• Costs to produce facility
• One-half (50) the cost of solar power tower is
  associated with mirrors that focus light on the
  receivers
• Less than one-third (33) is associated with
  power cycle and heat storage

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Additional Benefits

• The peak demand period - during the hottest part
  of the day, when air conditioners are running in
  the office and home - coincides with the period
  of time when the solar thermal power plant is at
  peak production
• Steam is emitted rather than greenhouse gases

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Conclusions

• Solar thermal energy could lead the United States
  into a renewable future.
• Cost reduction of producing solar thermal energy
  could make this the most viable type of
  available energy.

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Bibliography

• http//www.schott.com/newsfiles/20061109160336_SCH
  OTT_Memorandum_E.pdf
• http//scitation.aip.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServ
  let?prognormalidJSEEDO000129000002000141000001
  idtypecvipsgifsyes
• http//www.renewables-made-in-germany.com/en/solar
  -thermal-power-plants/
• http//www.worldofrenewables.com/page.php?pageid3
  2
• http//www.nrel.gov/csp/pdfs/35060.pdf
• http//www.nytimes.com/2008/03/06/business/06solar
  .html?_r1emex1205038800en2d73a651a7216de1ei
  50870Aorefslogin
• http//www.futurepundit.com/archives/005052.html
• http//www.news.com/Shrinking-the-cost-for-solar-p
  ower/2100-11392_3-6182947.html
• http//peakenergy.blogspot.com/2008/03/solar-therm
  al-power-could-supply-most.html
• http//media.cleantech.com/2570/ausra-and-solar-th
  ermal-electricity
• http//www.chiefengineer.org/content/content_displ
  ay.cfm/seqnumber_content/3070.htm
• http//www.sciam.com/article.cfm?ida-solar-grand-
  planpage1
• Living in the Environment (textbook)